Ten minutes later, Tsukuru sat on a couch in the living room. Logan stood behind him, his hand on his shoulder so he could see everything Tsukuru could see. Tsukuru had spent the last ten minutes relaying everything that had happened to him, from Mrs. Green's message, to the computer chip electrocuting him. Logan had stowed the information of his mother's admittance of a prior agreement between Richard Eno and the Green Family away for future use.
Tsukuru looked up at Logan, who silently nodded. Tsukuru flicked his finger upwards, accessing the System. The chime sound was heard, and the row of icons appeared. Then he tapped his finger on the first circle. It lit up bright, and an electric sound reminiscent of the "confirm" sound effect used in retro games could be heard. Then, two things appeared. The first was a translucent, light-blue holographic vertical rectangle directly to the left of the circle, with a right-facing triangle connecting them. The rectangle listed various information, and reminded Tsukuru of a "Status Screen" he'd seen in video games.
[Name Hikiko Tsukuru
Race Human
Level 1
XP 0/100
Title —
Ability —
_________________
HP 10/10
_________________
Strength 10
Stamina 10
Agility 10
[Stat Points: 0] ]
The second thing revealed was a wide rectangle directly to the right of the circle, connected to the circle by a left-facing triangle. The rectangle was separated into two rectangular bars, with a wide space between them. Each bar had a square that
displayed an item, followed by a label. Going downwards, the bars were labeled "Items", and "Equipment". The image for the "Items" bar was that of a typical, old-fashioned backpack, with a large flap on the top, and two straps to carry it on one's back. The image for the "Equipment" tab for a the helmet of a medieval knight with two swords crossed diagonally beneath it, with the handles of the swords being anatomically correct to what their positions would be if the swords were strapped to the "knight"'s back.
Curious, Tsukuru pressed his finger on the "Items" rectangle. It lit up brightly, and the same retro "confirmation" sound was heard. A new screen opened up, revealing a grid-pattern of squares, consisting of five rows of six squares. As Tsukuru stared at the grid, the feminine, computerized voice rang in his head once again. And since Logan was accessing the System by proxy, he heard it too.
[This is the System's Inventory. You can store any nonliving, inanimate object in the System, and withdraw it at any time.]
"What's that?" Logan asked. Tsukuru glanced back at him.
"It appears to be the voice of the System's AI." He replied.
"Try putting something in it." Logan suggested. Tsukuru frantically looked around for something to test it on. Then, he remembered he still had his handheld game console in the pocket of his hoodie. Reaching into his hoodie's pocket, he pulled it out. Logan looked down at it.
"Your handheld gaming console?" He asked. "Seriously?" Tsukuru looked up at him.
"Hey!" He yelled, somewhat offended. "Don't knock the classics!" He shook his fist at Logan. "Don't judge me!"
"Too late." Logan muttered under his breath, as he looked to the side. As Tsukuru held the device in his hand, he imagined placing it in the System's Inventory. Another holographic screen appeared.
[Place Handheld Gaming Console in the System's Inventory?
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought the word 'Yes'. Almost immediately, his gaming console began to break down into light-blue, hard-light, square pixels, which faded away a moment later. In the System's Inventory screen, he saw a crude, 2-D pixel art image of his gaming console appear in the first square. A small, digital "1" appeared in the lower-right hand corner of the square. A new screen appeared.
[Handheld Gaming Console has been placed in the System's Inventory.]
Curious, Tsukuru pressed his finger against the square. A rectangular bar reading "Withdraw" appeared. As he clicked it, another screen appeared.
[Would you like to withdraw Handheld Gaming Console from the System's Inventory?
[Yes][No] ]
'Yes.' He thought. Instantly, the handheld console reappeared in his hand, the previous process looking as though it went in reverse. Tsukuru smirked, and pocketed it back in his hoodie.
"It's still there." Logan replied. Tsukuru shot him a confused look. But as he looked back at the Inventory screen, he grew confused. Logan was right. The first image still showed his handheld console, albeit grayed out. As he pressed it, another rectangle appeared, this one labeled "Deposit". Tsukuru quirked an eyebrow.
'What the?' He thought. As if reading their minds, the computerized, feminine voice spoke up to answer his unasked question.
[Once an object has been deposited in the System's Inventory, it can always be returned to it, regardless of location or distance.]
Tsukuru smirked. "That'll come in handy."He muttered, with Logan nodding in agreement.
"Indeed." He added. Their gazes turned back to the screen. "Now, how the hell do I dismiss this thing?" He muttered. The computerized voice made itself known.
[To dismiss a System screen, simply swipe it to the right.]
Following the voice's instructions, Tsukuru swiped the air in front of the screen, moving his arm to the right. As it did, the screen broke apart into square pixels, which then faded. Tsukuru then turned his attention to the other rectangular bar, labeled "Equipment". He pressed it, causing the bar to light up bright and the "confirmation" sound to be heard again. To his surprise, another rectangle appeared, this time, separated into THREE bars. Going downwards, they were labeled "Weapons", "Armor", and "Accessories", respectively. The image for the "Weapons" rectangle was two crossed pirate cutlasses, pointing upwards. The image for the "Armor" rectangle was a knight's torso and arms, and the image for the "Accessories" rectangle was a circular amulet attached to a thin, string necklace.
The necklaces also had three beads on either side of the amulet's clasp. When Tsukuru opened them, they were all exactly identical to the grid pattern for the Inventory screen. Tsukuru dismissed the screen with a swipe. He then pressed the other circle, the one displaying a scroll. A new screen appeared.
[Quests
Main Quest: Reach Level 10
Reward: ???
Daily Quest: Spend 10 minutes consuming any form of digital media
Reward: 10 XP ]
Logan let out an amused snort. "Yeah, like that'll be hard." He replied, seeing the daily quest. "You always have your face in a screen." Tsukuru ignored him, and dismissed the screen. Finally, he pressed the last remaining symbol, the one that looked like a shopping cart.
Another screen displaying a grid of squares appeared. In the upper-right hand corner, there were four lines of text.
[Bronze 0
Silver 0
Gold 0
Platinum 0 ]
Directly beneath it, was a rectangular bar labeled "convert". In the upper-left corner of the screen, it showed the word "Shop". Tsukuru narrowed his eyes. "Must be a Shopping tab." He muttered. He looked at the grid of squares. It was pretty barren, only having four options available. The first square showed a dagger that looked like it was carved out of beast parts, obviously being a Beast Weapon. The remaining three were glass flasks of varying colors, with the third being quite ornate. He pressed all the squares in order, which displayed their information as each square lit up and the "confirmation" sound was heard.
[Basic-Tier Obsidian Dagger
Equipment
A piece of Beast Gear forged from Glathrium and the Beast Crystals of the Basic-Tier Volcanic Lizard.
+3 Strength
+2 Agility
Cost: 5 Silver Coins]
[Minor Health Potion
Consumable Item
A flask filled with a liquid of a deep, red color. Consuming the potion will restore 10 HP. Can be consumed or applied externally as a salve.The potion must be fully used to take effect.
Cost: 3 Bronze Coins]
[Minor MC Potion
Consumable Item
A flask filled with a liquid of a deep, blue color. Consuming the potion will fully re-energize 10 Mutant Cells. Can be consumed or applied externally as a salve.The potion must be fully used to take effect.
Cost: 5 Bronze Coins]
[Minor XP Potion
Consumable Item
An ornate flask filled with a liquid of a light-blue color. After consuming
the potion, you will receive 20% extra XP from both battles and System Rewards for the next 8 hours. Can be consumed or applied externally as a salve.The potion must be fully used to take effect.
Cost: 1 Gold Coin]
"There's no point in even HAVING a shop if I'm broke." he muttered. Logan glanced over at him.
"Who do you think you're fooling?" He asked. Tsukuru glared up at him.
"In the System's Shop, genius!" Tsukuru shot back. "I'm broke in the System's Shop!" Logan glanced down at him.
"You know, I'm taking time out of my busy schedule to help you." Logan replied. "The least you could do is not be so snippy." Tsukuru let out an annoyed sigh.
"SOME of us aren't Level 8 Ability users." Tsukuru muttered, his eyes glancing down at Logan's watch, which displayed the number "8", to prove his point. "You don't have to deal with people despising your very existence." Logan glanced down at him.
"I thought you said it didn't bother you?" He asked.
"Of course, it does." He muttered, as he swiped away the Shop screen and flicked down to dismiss the System. Tsukuru stood up, breaking Logan's grip on his back. "I'm going to go watch TV in my room." He muttered.
"Anything that's actually from this century?" Logan asked under his breath.
"Just go play with your machines, tech-boy!" Tsukuru shot back. Logan shrugged his shoulders, and walked back to his room.